Figuring it Out

Well, I know I mentioned the audit was over, but apparently we were miss led. The bills keep on piling up and well we are broke. Oh boy. Granted we are not broke, broke like a lot of the world, but our cushion is gone. Just wrote a check that leaves us with $100 in our accounts. Thankfully payday is in two weeks and at the beginning of every month I pull cash out for groceries and gas so we are covered there. Never thought sandwiches would become part of our meal plan. We still have quite a few tax related bills to pay so we will be on a strict budget for this year. Wedding season hits in May and we should be able to pay down a considerable amount I hope. I plan on purging my closet and many home goods/fabrics I have stored away to sell. I am not writing all this for a whoa is me story or some sort of pity party, but as a way of sharing with you all that life may not always be as pretty as it seems in blogland. We still have a lot... a great house, two paid for cars, nice cloths, etc. We are just now in a place where we live with what we currently have and own. No extras unless I manage a few more side jobs here and there. Our outings will be to the park, zoo and the McGwane center, well at least till the memberships run out. We will HAVE to stick by our food and gas budget because we have no margin. I am praying we can do all this without putting any money on credit cards. That is my goal and really my only one. I know for the Mr and I, we have an understanding on why we won't be able to do things or buy certain things, but the biggest change will be for the kiddos. Hard to explain why a week ago it was okay to buy new books, etc, but today and for the rest of the year the once little things will now become the big treats. Again I so know this is a reality for a lot of people. I have travelled to places where people are grateful to have one pair of shoes. We have way more than that. This is just going to be  a life change that we are not accustomed to. After a few good boohoo's and a peace from God that surpasses any understanding. I feel like we are in a good place. A place where we will learn and grow and be stronger for it in the end. Of course being able to see an end in sight helps even if it is in the distance. Kind of crazy to think that money we have yet to receive from weddings already is spoken for by the government. Also kind of crazy that this is all happening because of a simple "we did not know scenario" and that we were never informed properly. So this is our new story and these are the words that I will live by...

 *stunning calligraphy by made by sohn. it could not have come through my instagram feed at a better time. God uses people. clearly.

B-Metro {and me}

This month I was in B Metro, a local magazine. It was so much fun having Graham Yelton work her magic and capture our home and the kiddos perfectly. She is seriously a fun one to be around. Of course, as most magazines do, a few things were moved here and there to get a good shot of the space. All the pieces were ours they were just used in new ways. I even left the flamingo up on the mantel for a dose of color in the end. I really loved the paired down coffee table in the living room too. I ended up leaving the blue sculpture up, but had to add back all my other goodies simply because I have no where else to put things. Ha. You can see the article and more photos here.

New Art {a process}

I received two new pieces of art from Minted and I could not be any more excited! Me being me, decided to have some fun and see where I like them best. This is something I do with most pieces that I buy. I tend to buy what I LOVE and may or may not have an idea where they could go. Testing out a few places is not only fun for me, but also insures I find the most perfect spot. This time around I thought you all may like to share in my process...

This is Minted's LOVE IS YOU print in a 16x20 framed. I could not adore it anymore. We have very few photos of the Mr and I up and the ones we do have are almost a decade old. Needless to say we have changed a bit and our love is even stronger today. Cheesy I know, but I stand by it. First I tried it out in our bedroom. What you can't see is the bathroom door to the left and a closet door to the right. The table it sits over are cheap white target drawers meant for a closet, but we needed the extra storage. It is what it is. HA.

The second piece of art is CONSTELLATION as an 8x8 print framed. This is the cabinet in the dining area. I love to mix practical and pretty. Some of the decorations from KJ's birthday were still up when I took the photo, but you still get the general idea. What I do like is that when sitting at the table this pretty print is at eye level for all to gander.

Next I tried both the LOVE IS YOU and the CONSTELLATION print in our gallery wall that joins both the kiddos bedrooms and the guest bath. This space can also be viewed from the entry. 

My final spot to try was the area over the piano. If you recall this is suppose to be a bar that separates the kitchen from the living room. It was poor planning on the builders part, because it is not only ugly but also impractical at a height that only a giant can make work. To make it work for us I placed the piano underneath and now use the bar as a sort of console table. It's not amazing, but it was a free solution that I can actually stand now. All the pots normally house plants, but the others got to the point where they were ready to be planted outside and I have to restock.

So what do you think? Where should the Minted prints ultimately go? I leave the decision to you all!!!

Six {a birthday party}

KJ turned 6 this past Saturday. We had a family party which included his and I's best friends that we have had for what seems like forever. It was small, but it turned out to be so much fun! KJ had no idea his birthday was this past weekend. We may have led him to believe it was a week away. The Mr took him out for the morning doing man stuff and when they returned a party was awaiting. He was utterly shocked!!!! Ha. He wanted a red and blue party so I ran with it all the way down to the cake. The fabrics I had laying around the house from previous parties. Everything else was from either party city, the dollar tree, or things I, again, had around the house. We are on a huge budget, obviously. KJ loves to catch bugs so when I spotted the red and blue bug catchers at the Dollar Tree I knew they would make perfect party favors. The part I loved most though was the huge prints I had done at Staples. They were under $5 a piece and are done on copy paper. I did one for every year of his life. He LOVES them and it was hard for me to take them down. He really wants them in his room though so I shall oblige. I really can't believe my BABY is six, whaa...

*Let me know if you want any particular sources and I will leave them in the comment section for everyone to see.

Back to Life {plus a bit of organizing}

Yesterday was the big audit. Could have been worse and could have been better. Thankfully the amount owed was less than what we anticipated. Unfortunately money doesn't grow on trees and we still owe a decent chunk to the state. PHOTOGRAPHERS did you know we are not a service and considered a product? Sales tax must be paid on ALL amount received if the client receives photos in the end regardless of form. That means a XXX amount for a wedding fee must be sales taxed on FULLY not just on the album, etc. Oh yes, you heard me right. Crazy town! Anyhow, now I feel like I can get back to life!!! I have been drowning myself in numbers trying to make sure I had all X's and O's in order. Needless to say I have been a bad wife, mama, housekeeper, friend, blogger, etc. I truly believe my office space reflects it all. It's a mess and so was brain. Ha. The images were even taken AFTER all tax related items were put in a bag for the audit. It's still a mess, but I have full intentions of giving it and the rest of the house a complete do over today. The ONE thing that has remained in order, which is not normally the case, it the insane number of cords that sit on my desk, husbands night table, and floor. The people over at MOS Organizer were kind enough to send over a couple of MOS cable organizers to see what I thought. As you know I don't do too many reviews, but they caught me on a day I thought I would go mad with clutter. Oh, and I may have sucked up my third iPhone cord into the vacuum. I must say it ROCKS!!! The MOS uses tiny magnets to clip on whatever cord you need to stay put. I now know where to find them and they stay off the floor plus they look kind of neat. Win-Win!!!!

*tomorrow I plan on sharing KJ's surprise birthday party!!! I am officially back in blogging business. Missed you all!!!